Severus Snape
"...probably the bravest man I ever knew."—Harry Potter telling his son about Severus Snape Professor Severus Snape (9 January, 1960 – 2 May, 1998) was a half-blood wizard who was the son of the witch Eileen Snape (née Prince) and Muggle Tobias Snape. During his lifetime, Severus Snape was Potions master (1981–1996), Defence Against the Dark Arts professor (1996-1997), and Headmaster (1997-1998) of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry (which he attended as a student from 1971 until 1978). He was also member of the Order of the Phoenix and played a very important role in both of the Wizarding Wars against Lord Voldemort. Despite Severus Snape's wizarding heritage, he was raised in the Muggle dwelling of Spinner's End, which was in close proximity to the home of the Evans family. He met Lily and Petunia Evans when he was nine, and fell deeply in love with Lily, becoming a close friend of hers. In 1971 he began his first term at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry where he was sorted into Slytherin. This put him in the same year as his true love, Lily Evans. Severus became the immediate enemy of James Potter and Sirius Black and was a frequent victim of their bullying. Snape developed a passion for the Dark Arts at a young age, and had followed the pure-blood supremacists in Slytherin House, despite his own marred pedigree and his love for Lily, a Muggle-born. This put his friendship with Lily under great strain. After leaving school he joined the Death Eaters along with a large group of his fellow Slytherins. Severus was made a member of the Slug Club, presumably because of his brilliance at potion-making, and Horace kept a picture of him as a student, clutching his copy of Advanced Potion-Making. Despite this, Horace did not have many hopes for Severus' future, as his photograph was kept behind many others.3 Shortly before Lily Evans was killed by Lord Voldemort, Snape changed sides and became a member of the Order of the Phoenix and double agent during the Second Wizarding War. With tremendous difficulty, Snape was able to prevent Lord Voldemort from learning the truth about his loyalties. Despite the opinions of most others, Albus Dumbledore trusted Snape for reasons that were kept between them both until their deaths. Upon his death, it was revealed that his deep, strong love for Lily Evans caused him to redeem himself, joining Dumbledore's cause at the prospect of her protection from Lord Voldemort. The relationship between Dumbledore and Snape would be one of an unusually strong loyalty, so much so that Snape agreed to kill Dumbledore upon Dumbledore's own request. Before Dumbledore's death, Snape promised to protect the students of Hogwarts from the Death Eaters, who would inevitably take control of the Ministry of Magic, as well as the school. Snape later participated in the Battle of Hogwarts, but was killed by Lord Voldemort who mistakenly believed that Snape was the master of the Elder Wand, an immensely strong and powerful wand that Voldemort deeply desired. After his death, Harry Potter ensured that Severus Snape's portrait remained at Hogwarts, honouring him as a hero, despite their significant personal differences. Biography Severus Snape was born 9 January, 1960 to Eileen Prince, a pure-blood witch, and Tobias Snape, a Muggle, making him a half-blood wizard. Severus, whose father was neglectful and possibly even violent, began to identify with his mother's family and created a secret nickname from his mother's maiden name, calling himself "the Half-Blood Prince." His unhappy relationship with his father may have been the origin of his disdain for Muggles. It is implied that Severus was friendless and uncared for by his parents. This lack of care largely shaped Severus' bitter disposition and cruel behaviour later in his life.Severus grew up at Spinner's End, a shabby suburb of Cokeworth. This area of town was located nearby a dirty river and full of dilapidated houses, disused factories and broken down street lamps. Throughout the rest of his life, Severus continued to return there when he was not at school. The young Severus is depicted as being unwashed and wearing ill-fitting clothes "that were so mismatched that it looked deliberate". As a child, Severus was apparently neglected and his parents often fought with one another. He could not wait to leave for Hogwarts at the end of the summer. Lily Evans and her family likely lived in the same town, close to Spinner's End. After watching her for some time, Severus noticed her evident magical abilities and began making friendly overtures. The two bonded quickly and it appears that he was very interested in Lily right from the beginning, though she only regarded him as a good friend. During this time he also developed a contempt towards her older sister, Petunia. This was most likely because she made disparaging comments about his clothes and residence, but may also be because she was a Muggle. Information from Severus' own memories of his first interactions with Lily and Petunia suggests that he was an awkward child with poor social skills. Even when it was important to him to make a good impression, he always seemed to have trouble doing so. The memories show that both he and Lily had powerful talents for magic before attending Hogwarts. Hogwarts years Severus attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry as a student from 1971 to 1978, and was sorted into Slytherin, at that time led by Potions professor, Horace Slughorn. On the way to Hogwarts for his first year, Severus sat with Lily on the train, where they met James Potter and Sirius Black. This hostile first encounter would set the tone for the antagonism between the three of them for the rest of his life. According to Sirius, Severus excelled at the Dark Arts from an early age. At the age of eleven, he knew more curses and hexes than most of the seventh year students. He reportedly was friends with a gang of Slytherins who later became Death Eaters, including Avery and Mulciber. Severus was credited with creating a good number of popular spells like Levicorpus, Liberacorpus, Muffliato, and curses like Langlock, the Toenail Growth Hex, and his signature curse, Sectumsempra. Other Slytherins that Sirius mentioned as being friends with Severus included Evan Rosier, Wilkes and Sirius's cousin Bellatrix Lestrange. Severus also had contact with Lucius Malfoy, who was a prefect during his first year and greeted him kindly when he was sorted into the Slytherin House. Most likely the two had good rapport at Hogwarts (which could also be a reason why Narcissa Malfoy trusted Severus to take care of Draco Malfoy and why he seemed to favour Draco during his later teaching years). Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew were also classmates of Severus. James and his group of friends were constantly at war with Severus throughout their school years. Severus' memories, recorded in the Pensieve, suggest that he was an introverted and studious individual, whereas James was arrogant, popular and athletic. Immediately upon meeting him, James disliked Severus for expressing a desire to be in Slytherin. James' big crush on Lily, and Severus' close friendship and unrequited love for her also heightened the tension between the two. Snape's worst memory. One recorded memory in the Pensieve bears witness to James bullying him, turning him upside-down to reveal his underwear in front of many students, including Lily. Lily came to Severus' defence, but this only made things worse: in a subsequent lashing out at James in an attempt to recover his lost dignity, Severus inadvertently called Lily a Mudblood. Lily refused to forgive him for it, even after his repeated apologies. This would forever be Severus' worst memory. Severus noticed that Remus kept disappearing during the full moon and, on one occasion, decided to follow him past the Whomping Willow (after being tipped off on how to do so by Sirius Black) in order to confirm his suspicions. This act could have cost Severus his life or his humanity (he could have been turned into a werewolf by Remus' bite) had it not been for James. When James found out what had happened, he went after Severus and managed to save him just before he got to the Shrieking Shack while Remus was in his wolf-form. Albus Dumbledore swore Severus to secrecy, but the true nature of Remus was clear to Severus. By their seventh year, James had grown out of his immaturity and arrogance to the point that Lily agreed to start dating him, even though he never grew out of his hatred for Severus — according to Sirius, Severus had always been a "special case" with James. Lily ended up marrying James, which only strengthened Severus' bitterness towards him. Half-Blood Prince Severus was an exceptional wizard even in his childhood years. It was apparent through the notes and scribbles in his Potions textbook that he made time during classes to invent curses, charms, and clever potion innovations, while simultaneously learning the required textbook lessons. Property of the Half-Blood Prince Severus' potions textbook contained a few spells and curses which he was credited with inventing: Levicorpus, which grabbed the victim by the ankle and dangled them upside-down, and Sectumsempra, which caused slashing cuts (guided by the wand gestures of the caster, like a blade/sword) which bled extensively. Levicorpus somehow escaped from Severus' secrecy, and became very popular around Hogwarts towards the end of his fifth year at school. Some other spells were Muffliato, which filled the ears of anyone nearby with an unidentifiable buzzing sound and another hex that caused toenails to grow at an unnaturally fast rate. Severus' book later fell into the hands of Harry Potter in 1996. Harry used the Half-Blood Prince's tips and earned praise with that year's Potions master, Professor Slughorn. Harry considered the Half-Blood Prince to be a better teacher than Severus, unaware at that point that Severus was the Prince in question. The potions textbook has an inscription indicating it is Property of the Half-Blood Prince. Hermione Granger's research revealed that Prince was the maiden name of Severus' mother and so the nickname was revealed to be a combination of his mother's maiden name and his blood status. This nickname was apparently a secret, as Remus did not remember it ever being used publicly by Severus.